LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Stone Canal

Ken MacLeod1996

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Ilium

    Dan Simmons2003

    Post-human gods recreate the Trojan War on Mars while sentient robots travel from Jupiter to investigate. Multiple timelines converge.

    sardonic → propulsive, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Empty Space

    M. John Harrison2012

    Three interlocking timelines follow a widow in London, a detective in a neon city, and a pilot in deep space. The prose is dense and surreal.

    sardonic → dreamlike, still space opera

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Fractal Prince

    Hannu Rajaniemi2012

    A post-human thief is sent to Earth to steal a memory from a city made of digital ghosts. The prose uses dense, unexplained jargon.

    sardonic → dreamlike, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

  • The golden age

    John C. Wright2002

    In a far-future utopia, an immortal man discovers he has had his memories erased. He searches for his identity while defying a collective mind.

    sardonic → meditative, still space opera

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Foundation's Edge

    Isaac Asimov1982

    Two factions search for a hidden planet and the origin of humanity. The plot follows political maneuvering and scientific deduction.

    sardonic → propulsive, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Stainless Steel Rat

    Harry Harrison1961

    A futuristic con man is caught by the Special Corps and forced to use his criminal skills to catch other lawbreakers.

    sardonic → playful, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • The Trouble With Vampires

    Lynsay Sands2019

    A three-thousand-year-old immortal finds his fated life mate while hunting a rogue vampire. The professor he meets has her own hidden connection.

    sardonic → playful

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Chilling Effect

    Valerie Valdes2019

    A spaceship captain completes dangerous missions to pay off a ransom for her kidnapped sister. The crew includes a pilot who is a sentient plant.

    sardonic → playful, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Project Hail Mary

    Andy Weir2021

    A man wakes up on a spaceship with amnesia and two dead crewmates. He must use scientific experiments to remember his mission and save the sun.

    sardonic → propulsive, still hard sci-fi

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Star Kings

    Edmond Hamilton1949

    A 20th-century man swaps bodies with a prince 200,000 years in the future. He must lead a galactic empire against a tyrant's fleet.

    sardonic → propulsive, still space opera

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Invisible Cities

    Italo Calvino1972

    Marco Polo describes fifty-five imaginary cities to Kublai Khan. The book is a series of short, prose-poem meditations on urban existence.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

  • Beelzebub's tales to his grandson

    Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff1950

    An extraterrestrial being explains the history and strange behaviors of humanity to his grandson during a long space voyage.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

  • Children of Memory

    Adrian Tchaikovsky2023

    Advanced humans and uplifted animals observe a failing colony on a harsh planet. The story explores memory and the nature of consciousness.

    sardonic → meditative, still hard sci-fi

    pace-1·prose0·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Flood

    Stephen Baxter2008

    The sea level rises globally due to water leaking from the Earth's crust. Four former hostages watch as civilization slowly drowns over decades.

    sardonic → clinical, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+2

  • Echopraxia

    Peter Watts2014

    A biologist is caught on a mission toward the sun alongside a pilot and a group of transhuman monks. It explores consciousness and evolution.

    sardonic → bleak, still hard sci-fi

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Beyond the Aquila Rift

    Alastair Reynolds2001

    A spaceship crew wakes from cold sleep to find they have overshot their destination by light-years. They must face the reality of their location.

    sardonic → bleak, still hard sci-fi

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2